You know you’re going to be stuck at your desk for hours, days even. That project has to get done, the client needed it yesterday.

But you don’t have to sacrifice your health for the sake of hitting another deadline (after all, they’ll only be another deadline after that one won’t there!).

So here’s a few tips to help you avoid ‘desk sickness’.

Stretch. It helps. A lot.

Having a quick stretch even just at your desk can do wonders for feelings of stress, and even just to keep muscle cramps at bay.

Get up and walk around regularly, even just for a minute or two every hour is better than nothing at all. It’s also good stress, helps your eyes and just freshens up your brain. You’ll be more productive just by spending a little less time at your desk.

Look out for your eyes. If you’re getting dry or sore eyes, you need to blink more, and get a screen break. Focus on something in the distance regularly to avoid close-up eye strain.

Don’t hold off going to the toilet. Really. Sitting there for 6 hours drinking coffee without taking a pee is not going to do your health (or your bladder) any good.

Make sure your chair, desk and monitor are all properly adjusted – if you’re hunched over your keyboard, you’re going to end up with a sore neck, back, arms and wrists.

If you can, talk to colleagues. I don’t mean waste the day way, but even if you take a 5 minute break to bitch about demanding clients, you’ll feel a hell of a lot better than keeping it all inside 🙂